This invention relates to a programmable phase comparator, and particularly to a programmable phase comparator for filter cutoff tuning.
In the data storage art employing rotatable memories, such as magnetic and optical disc drives, it is common to employ a zone density recording technique to maintain bit density substantially uniform across the radius of the disc. More particularly, for maximum recording density, it is desired that each bit of information occupy substantially an equal amount of space on the disc surface. To accomplish this, it is common to record information at higher frequencies at the outer tracks than at the inner tracks. Typically, a frequency synthesizer establishes the recording frequency. When recovering data recorded at various frequencies, the data recovery circuits are operated at comparable data recovery frequencies. Typically, the data recovery circuits include a filter having a cutoff frequency that tracks the recording frequency. For example, the filter cutoff frequency may be established by the frequency synthesizer. However, for a variety of reasons, it is desirable to alter the filter cutoff frequency from that established by the frequency synthesizer.
One common filter is a master-slave filter in which a master filter produces a 90.degree. phase shift when its cutoff frequency matches a reference frequency, such as the frequency of the frequency synthesizer. A phase comparator is employed to produce a null condition at the 90.degree. phase shift. When the correct phase shift is achieved, the slave filter, which is the principal filter for the data recovery circuits, will have a cutoff frequency related to the reference frequency.
One problem in zone density recording is that an entire zone of plural tracks are recorded at a fixed frequency, with recording frequencies varying between zones. However, with the desire for higher recording densities, the zones have encompassed fewer tracks, thereby proliferating the number of zones. As the number of zones increases, a greater amount of memory space is required to retain the look-up table storing frequency data. It is desirable to store a region reference frequency in the look-up table and provide offsets to that frequency to meet the demand for the great number of zone reference frequencies. However, prior techniques to vary the slave filter cutoff frequency around the frequencies set by the reference frequency of the master filter have met with only limited success.